Gas burner



v H. ICQCALDVIVELL I 2,185,886

GAS BURNER Filed NOV. 5, 1935 Evening: H ENRY C. CALDWELL.

flii arngy.

Patented Jan. 2, 1940 aisaszis GAS BURNER Henry "'0. Caldwell; Buffalo, Y3 assignor, by ,,me sne assignments, to liendwell Burner p'orploratien, Buffalo, N. Y., ia 'ciiiipoi'ati New Application November 6, 1 93; .Serial No. 48,5

2 Claims. (elites: f

My invention relates ingeneral to gas burn; ers and more particularly to burners which are applicable to gas ranges, hot water heaters, and similar uses. For purposes of comparison ref- 5 erence herein is made to the finited State s Patent No. 2,116,096, issued tome May 3, 1938, for a Method of burning gas. 7

It is well known to those skilled inthe art that in gas burners of the Bunsen type, the gas is let into a mixing tube which is usually of Venturi form so as, to increase the velocityofthe gas and air passing 'therethrough. Airis admitted immediately back of they outlet .of the gas spud in ad justable quantities. The mixture then passes through a mixing tube and is burned 'above a number. of small, restricted outlets. known as ports. It is well known that if'sufljcient aims supplied at the mixer of suchaBunsen burner, the burner will tend to backfire, igniting the gas at the spud or nipple. To prevent this, insufficient air is supplied through the mixing tube and secondary air is then added at the small ports above wlr'ch the elements of combustion are burned. In suchBunsen practice, the'gas flowing into the mixing tube causes air to .be induced through a restricted air opening into the tube. Such induction of air causes a slight reduction in the velocity of the gas; the travel of the elements of combustion through the, rather long mixing tube further reducesthe velocity; and the passage through and burning above the small ports at the, outlet or burning point of the burner also decreases the velocity. r i

In my burner it is essential that the'gas travel protective chamber sufficiently large to supply more than enough air to createa proper mixture of combustible elements and thatthe speed of travel of these elements tothe pointof ignition and combustion shall be maintained as great as possible. o,

One of the principal objects of my invention has been to pro videa burner in which gas, as it comes from the main, passes through .free air a distance substantially sufficient to attain a proper mixture, at which point it is burned without restriction and without loss of the velocity giveuto the combustion elements by ,the; gas as it flows from the main.

Another object has been to provide aburner in which there shall be sufiicient, air around .the stream of gas, so that the gas maybe supplied with ample air without causing an appreciable reduction of the velocityof'the'gas coming fro m t Supply Spud? l .1 v.1

far enough through the free air or through 8.'

;Another; object has. been to providea burner in which there shall be an unrestricted flow of come bustible elements at maximum speed.

.,A .fu rtherobject of my invention is-to provide a burner inwhich combustion of the fuel elements shall occurat the point where the gas and air-havebeen mixed sufiiciently to produce a substantiallycombustible mixture.

-Moreover, in my burner fluctuations of pressure in the gas main do not affect the combustion and do not result in the creation of .soot, and m wxI i; i I I I Furthermore. due to the fact that in my burner the gas passes through the free air a-sufiicient distance gsubstantially all .of the air, needed to support qmbustion is providedwithout the nece.-, sity: rovidingforsecondary air at the. point of ignitmr nd combustion.

;;In V y inventionll provide a spreader arranged above themouth of the burner and it is a characteristic of my invention that ignition and combustionmaypccur substantially within the mouth of. the burner'and below the spreader thereof, but suoh-ignition-and combustion-usually occur immediately-outside of the burner.

litis further characteristic of my burner that the "air, which issupplied to the stream of gas in amplequantities to produce combustion at the desired place, is controlled at the mouth of the burner: I

Another object has been-to provide a burner in which combustion shall occur either inside the burnersor outside thereof, whereby backfiring will be prevented.

Moreover; my burner is of such a nature that the article being heated, such as a cooking utensil or. the like, may be placed directly on the top of and in contact with the spreader, whereby the heat generated is transmitted to the article being heated by conduction as well as by radiation and reflection;

Another object has been to provide a burner whichshallbe adjustable .to adapt the same to use with various kinds of gas.

A further object is to provide a. burner having itslports and outlet passages so arranged that the burner cannot easily become slogged. In the event that-dust does accumulate in the body of the burner, the parts are so designed that they may be easily disassembled and cleaned.

Moreover, my burner is of such construction that-it may be conveniently used to replace burners of various stoves, ranges, and heating appliances nowin user p -The above objects and advantageshavebeen accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawing, of which:

1 is an exterior view of one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 2 -2 of Fig. 1.

'Fig. 3 is a bottom, sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, exterior view of a modified form of invention showing a different type of spreader.

While my burner will function if the gas is projected through free air, it is, of course, necessary, in order to meet the Fire Underwriters and American Gas Association requirements, that a protective bodybe provided around the gas stream for protecting the gas stream against outside disturbances. As shown in the drawings, therefore, my burner comprises a single-chambered body H3 which is tubular in form and provided with a central opening H which is preferably conical in shape and flaring downwardly. The body, therefore, provides an air space 12 which is relatively large and which is so proportioned that it provides more than is required by the gas to properly support combustion. The mouth It of the burner is formed at the upper end of the opening ii in the body. The body is formed at its upper end with a neck it which is exterioriy screwthreaded.

The burner body is carried by a body support l6 have an upstanding ring l! which encircles the bottom edge of the body it: and to centrally support the same. The body support is also provided with a central hub portion is which is con,- nected to the ring portion H by means of a plurality of arms i9 thus leaving air spaces 20 be tween the ring portion and the hub portion for the entrance of air. The hub portion is provided with an interior screwthread which engages with an exteriorly screwthreaded gas outlet pipe 2A. This outlet pipe is of considerable length so that the spud 25, either formed thereon or attached thereto, may be moved up or down within the air space it of the tube by rotation of the body support upon the pipe, for purposes to be hereinafter described. A look nut 2i is preferably provided on the outlet pipe for locking the position of the body support after ithas been adjusted. The outlet pipe 24 is provided with any suitable type of shut-off cook 26 by which the gas may be either turned on or off, or may be regulated if desired.

The neck 1 of the body is of considerable length and upon its screwthreaded exterior is mounted an adjusting ring 21. This ring is provided with an upstanding wall 23 which is formed with a plurality of notches 29 in its edge surface. These notches extend, as clearly shown in Fig.2, a considerable distance along the peripheral surface of the ring. The wall 28 is relatively thin and it is bored out so as to provide an annular recess 35 for the reception and support of the lower end of a spreader (iii. This spreader is provided with a lower, substantially convex surface 3? and an upper substantially flat surface 40 and is centrally arranged above the mouth 13 of the burner. Between the lower surface 3? of the spreader and the upper surface 38 of the neck is provided an annular space which is varied by the rotation of the ring 21 for controlling the amount of air passing through the mouth of the burner. A lock nut 3% is placed upon the neck I4 and is engageable with the adjusting ring to lock it when it has been adjusted to the desired position. I

in Fig. 4, an adjusting ring 45 is provided and it is screwthreaded to the neck M of the body 10 of the burner. Arranged above the adjusting ring is the spreader 46 which is a relatively thin plate as compared to the other form of invention and which is preferably providedwith a convex lower surface 4 and a substantially fiat top surface 49. The spreader may be held in interspaced relation with the adjusting ring 45 by means of a plurality of separating pins 48. In this form of apparatus, the annular space surrounding the mouth of the burner body is formed between the upper surface 38 of the neck and the lower convex surface 1'! of the spreader and the size of such space may be varied by rotating the ring 45.

While my burner is, of course, designed so that b of gas flow. Under these conditions the gas in the main will be supplied to the gas outlet pipe and .to the orifice thereof at the maximum gas main pressure with the result that the gas stream coming from the gas orifice will pass through the body atmaximum velocity. As the gas stream emerges from the orifice of the outlet pipe and passes into the air space 52 of the body ill, it is mixed with free air in this space. The burner is first adjusted for the kind of gas to be burned by screwing the body support it up or down upon the gas outlet pipe to point where the upper end of the mouth 23 of the body will be at such distance from the outlet of the gas orifice in the pipe as to bring about, within narrow limits the most efficient combustible mixture. The body is then locked by means of the lock nut 2| and the burner does not thereafter have to be adjusted for the particular gas upon which it is used. Since the amount of air passing through .the burner and, therefore, the final character of the combustible mixture is controlled at the mouth of the burner, the final adjustment of the burner is made by means of the adjusting ring 2'! which governs the size of the annular outlet space of the burner. It will thus be seen that the gas under the maximum gas main pressure is projected into and through free air and thus takes up sufficient air to bring about an efiicient combustible mixture at the outlet space of the burner which is formed between the upper surface 38 of the neck and the curved surface iii of the spreader. Ignition and combustion may ocur at substantially this same place and the speed of travel of the gas and the mixture is thereby not diminished in any way before combustion occurs, except the slight reduction obviously resulting from contact of the gas stream with the surrounding air. Combustion, therefore, occurs substantially within the mouth of the body and below the spreader 36. The heated products of combustion then pass outwardly through the openings formed by the notches 29 in the wall 28 of the adjusting ring and between the lower edge of the spreader body. As hereinbefore pointed out, the article being heated consisting, for instance, of a cooking utensil or the like, may be placed directly upon the top of and in contact with the spreader so that the heat generated is transmitted not only by conduction but also by radiation and reflection. Since ignition and combustion may occur within the burner mouth, my burner cannot backfire and any turning down of the gas at the-gas cock 26 will serve to lessen the spread of the flame and will even draw the point of combustion down into the air space l2 of the burner.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that an efiicient combustible mixture is brought about in my burner when the gas, under substantially full gas main pressure, has been projected through the free air space a sufficient distance to take up substantially all the air needed to support combustion when ignition and combustion takes place, which is usually substantially within the mouth of the burner. Substantiallyno secondary air, therefore, is needed since practically all the air is initially supplied to the stream of gas as it passes up through the free air space l2 of the burner body. While ignition and combustion may occur substantially within the mouth of the burner and below the spreader 36, it usually occurs immediately outside of the spreader.

When my burner is to be used, the body support l6 having been set for the kind of gas being used and the existing pressure thereof, the final charactor of the combustible mixture, as hereinbefore set forth, is controlled by the adjusting ring 21 which governs the size of the annular outlet space of the burner. As h-ereinbefore pointed out, substantially all the air necessary to support combustion within the burner is supplied to the stream of gas within and as it passes through the free air space l2. The regulation just above referred to controls the amount of air which is allowed to pass through the burner, the amount of gas remaining constant under normal conditions. By increasing the size of the outlet space, the amount of air in the mixture as it reaches the combustible point within the burner is increased, whereas if this space is decreased by screwing down the adjusting ring, the amount of air at the place of combustion is decreased. In my burner, therefore, the supply of air is controlled entirely at the outlet thereof.

In the appended claims where I use the term protective as applied to the body, I mean a body which is of such a size that the quantity of air which it surrounds will be more than enough to mix with the gas to produce a substantially perfeet combustible mixture. In other words, the gas will be projected through a substantially free air space. Another function of the protective body is to provide protection for the gas stream against outside disturbances. 1

While I have shown and described the bottom surface of the spreader as convex, the convexity thereof may be made greater or less as desired, or such surfaces may be made substantially flat. Obviously, these and other modifications of the details herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the form shown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

'1. A gas burner comprising a single-chambered,

protective body, said body being open at its lower end and having an open mouth, said body having a smooth, continuous, inner wall for the unobstructed passage of the gas and air, a gas outlet pipe having an orifice centrally arranged in cooperative relation with the lower end of the body, a spreader arranged in cooperative, spaced relation with the upper end of the body, said spreader being so shaped and proportioned that all of the parts thereof are located above and outside of the body, and adjustable means located at the outlet of the burner body for regulating the amount of air entering the lower end of the burner body and passing through the outlet.

2. A gas burner comprising a single-chambered, protective body, said body being open at its lower end and having an open mouth, said body having a smooth, continuous, inner wall for the unobv shaped and proportioned that all, of the parts thereof are located above and outside of the body, whereby the size of the outlet space of the burner may be adjusted.

, C. CALDWELL. 

